There was nothing special about Brendan. He was an ordinary schoolboy who did his homework (most of the time), played with his friends in the neighborhood, and helped his father on weekends around the house. He was liked by his classmates and friends and was never one to pick a fight. Today, however, Brendan would face a situation that would challenge him to draw upon courage deep within him that he never knew he had.
The day began as usual. He was walking to school with David, his next-door neighbor and longtime friend. David was a bit small for his age. Perhaps because of this, he was not interested in athletics and recently had begun practicing the violin. This morning, he was carrying his new violin and case for the first time, as he had a lesson immediately after school.
David sometimes was teased by three older “tough” boys, who called him a weakling and other such names. Usually, he would just shrug it off and continue on his way. The other boys would turn their attention elsewhere…until today.
The three were hanging out at the entrance of the school playground as Brendan and David approached. Brendan noticed that they all had their eyes on David’s violin case. He had a warning feeling.
“Hey, Frankie,” one of them said to his buddy. “Look what the weakling's got today.”
Frankie, the leader of the three, took a step towards David. “Is that a violin?” he asked threateningly.
The third one chimed in, “No, I bet he’s got a tommy gun in there, like one of those gangsters.” They all laughed mockingly.
“In that case, I should take this item for the protection of innocent children.” In the blink of an eye, Frankie lifted the case out of David’s arms.
“Give it back!” screamed David. Brendan had never seen him so mad.
“Make me,” Frankie shot back, and he easily pushed David to the ground.
Stunned, Brendan just stood there looking at David sprawled on the ground. It had all happened so fast. David looked up at Brendan with a pleading look.
Brendan turned his head towards the three bullies. They looked back, daring him to do or say something in David’s defense.
Brendan’s mind was swirling. What to do? There was his best friend lying on the ground. He had to do something.
“Stop it!” he shouted with a voice so strong and confident that it surprised even him. “Give it back—now!”
Brendan stepped forward, raising himself up to go almost chin-to-chin with Frankie.
Not expecting such a fearless response, Frankie took a step back. His two buddies also backed away. By this time, quite a crowd of students had gathered behind Brendan.
"Yeah. Give it back, bully!" they shouted at Frankie.
Frankie could see he was in danger of losing this fight. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see one of the teachers running towards them.
“Take the stupid violin,” he growled, shoving it at Brendan. “Let’s go, boys.”
The bullies pushed their way through the crowd while Brendan helped David up off the ground, handing him his violin.
“Thanks, Brendan,” David said, as he smiled at his friend gratefully.
Brendan felt power and joy swell up inside him. He had made the bullies back down!
"You're welcome," he said, as he saw other students smiling at him too.
Comments:
From the story above, we can see that courage is not something confined to war or adventure sports like skydiving or jumping off a cliff into a lake. It is something we can find around us practically every day, if we keep our eyes and ears open.
One dictionary defines courage as: “The quality of mind that enables one to face danger with confidence, resolution, and firm control of oneself.” The dangers we usually think of are the physical ones of getting killed, dying of an illness, or getting injured in some way. There are certainly many dangers of these types in our world. We consider people with the courage to face these dangers heroes: the fireman rushing into a burning building to save children, the police officer chasing down a criminal suspect who has a gun, or the ordinary citizen facing a painful death from cancer with dignity.
Yet danger sometimes appears in less obvious forms: the danger of losing a friend by not doing what he or she wants you to do, the danger of being accused of a wrongdoing you didn't commit, or the danger of being made fun of by your peers. These are social dangers that we all face on a regular basis. Sometimes it takes courage to face and overcome our fear of these social dangers in order to do the right thing.
In the story above, Brendan faced not only the danger of being beaten up by the bullies. He also risked being mocked by other students as he stood up to the bullies to defend his friend. Brendan's courage worked in his favor: both the bullies and other students respected him for taking his stand.
For us to be able to do the courageous thing, the right thing, we need to have “confidence, resolution, and firm control” of ourselves. We need to have a strong desire to do what we think is right and not let anything sway us from it. This is where having “firm control of oneself” comes in. We may be resolved to do a certain thing, but when the time comes, we don’t do it. We allow our fears to overwhelm us, and we fail to act. Instead of showing courage, we demonstrate its opposite: cowardice.
Sometimes we may go to the opposite extreme and become “reckless” in our behavior. Recklessness is when we ignore the dangers of a situation. It can in certain cases be seen as heroic—for example, the soldier fearlessly charging into battle, with no care for his own safety. However, recklessness is more commonly regarded as a negative—this same soldier may endanger his fellow soldiers, or get himself killed for no reason. Recklessness can also mean ignoring the safety of others, such as "reckless driving". This type of recklessness is almost always looked down on.
Recklessness is a result of self-centered stubbornness, of not listening to reason, and not considering the consequences of one’s behavior to other people.
Courage, on the other hand, is a measured response in the face of danger. It does not put others in harm’s way for no reason. The one showing courage risks his or her own well-being first, which may inspire others to do the same in the cause of doing what is right. For example, in leading the American civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. put his own life on the line many times, inspiring countless others to do the same. The same is true of Mohandas K. Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and many others who stood up courageously for freedom.
In the story above, Brendan, too, inspired his schoolmates by his courageous action to stand up against the school bullies. They liked him for what he did. They probably had wanted to stand up to the bullies for a long time themselves!
Questions for Reflection
1. What is courage?
2. What is cowardice?
3. What is recklessness?
4. Are there kids in your school who pick on others? How do you feel about it?
5. Is it realistic to think that an average kid could stand up for a friend like Brendan did, or is he a special case?
6. What do you think stops people from standing up against something they know is wrong?
7. Have you ever stood up for someone who was being picked on or treated unfairly? If so, what did you learn from that experience?
8. It is said that evil will triumph as long as good people do nothing. Do you agree?
9. Does it sometimes take courage just to be yourself? What does that mean?
Exercise: “Profiles in Courage”
Find five acts of courage by people in the news or by people in your school or community. What do they have in common? What is different about them? What difference did their actions make? What can you learn from these examples?
Reflection Exercise: “Courage and Me”
Think of a time in your life when you showed courage. What was difficult about it? What did it accomplish? How did people respond before you did something? How were they afterwards?
The day began as usual. He was walking to school with David, his next-door neighbor and longtime friend. David was a bit small for his age. Perhaps because of this, he was not interested in athletics and recently had begun practicing the violin. This morning, he was carrying his new violin and case for the first time, as he had a lesson immediately after school.
David sometimes was teased by three older “tough” boys, who called him a weakling and other such names. Usually, he would just shrug it off and continue on his way. The other boys would turn their attention elsewhere…until today.
The three were hanging out at the entrance of the school playground as Brendan and David approached. Brendan noticed that they all had their eyes on David’s violin case. He had a warning feeling.
“Hey, Frankie,” one of them said to his buddy. “Look what the weakling's got today.”
Frankie, the leader of the three, took a step towards David. “Is that a violin?” he asked threateningly.
The third one chimed in, “No, I bet he’s got a tommy gun in there, like one of those gangsters.” They all laughed mockingly.
“In that case, I should take this item for the protection of innocent children.” In the blink of an eye, Frankie lifted the case out of David’s arms.
“Give it back!” screamed David. Brendan had never seen him so mad.
“Make me,” Frankie shot back, and he easily pushed David to the ground.
Stunned, Brendan just stood there looking at David sprawled on the ground. It had all happened so fast. David looked up at Brendan with a pleading look.
Brendan turned his head towards the three bullies. They looked back, daring him to do or say something in David’s defense.
Brendan’s mind was swirling. What to do? There was his best friend lying on the ground. He had to do something.
“Stop it!” he shouted with a voice so strong and confident that it surprised even him. “Give it back—now!”
Brendan stepped forward, raising himself up to go almost chin-to-chin with Frankie.
Not expecting such a fearless response, Frankie took a step back. His two buddies also backed away. By this time, quite a crowd of students had gathered behind Brendan.
"Yeah. Give it back, bully!" they shouted at Frankie.
Frankie could see he was in danger of losing this fight. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see one of the teachers running towards them.
“Take the stupid violin,” he growled, shoving it at Brendan. “Let’s go, boys.”
The bullies pushed their way through the crowd while Brendan helped David up off the ground, handing him his violin.
“Thanks, Brendan,” David said, as he smiled at his friend gratefully.
Brendan felt power and joy swell up inside him. He had made the bullies back down!
"You're welcome," he said, as he saw other students smiling at him too.
Comments:
From the story above, we can see that courage is not something confined to war or adventure sports like skydiving or jumping off a cliff into a lake. It is something we can find around us practically every day, if we keep our eyes and ears open.
One dictionary defines courage as: “The quality of mind that enables one to face danger with confidence, resolution, and firm control of oneself.” The dangers we usually think of are the physical ones of getting killed, dying of an illness, or getting injured in some way. There are certainly many dangers of these types in our world. We consider people with the courage to face these dangers heroes: the fireman rushing into a burning building to save children, the police officer chasing down a criminal suspect who has a gun, or the ordinary citizen facing a painful death from cancer with dignity.
Yet danger sometimes appears in less obvious forms: the danger of losing a friend by not doing what he or she wants you to do, the danger of being accused of a wrongdoing you didn't commit, or the danger of being made fun of by your peers. These are social dangers that we all face on a regular basis. Sometimes it takes courage to face and overcome our fear of these social dangers in order to do the right thing.
In the story above, Brendan faced not only the danger of being beaten up by the bullies. He also risked being mocked by other students as he stood up to the bullies to defend his friend. Brendan's courage worked in his favor: both the bullies and other students respected him for taking his stand.
For us to be able to do the courageous thing, the right thing, we need to have “confidence, resolution, and firm control” of ourselves. We need to have a strong desire to do what we think is right and not let anything sway us from it. This is where having “firm control of oneself” comes in. We may be resolved to do a certain thing, but when the time comes, we don’t do it. We allow our fears to overwhelm us, and we fail to act. Instead of showing courage, we demonstrate its opposite: cowardice.
Sometimes we may go to the opposite extreme and become “reckless” in our behavior. Recklessness is when we ignore the dangers of a situation. It can in certain cases be seen as heroic—for example, the soldier fearlessly charging into battle, with no care for his own safety. However, recklessness is more commonly regarded as a negative—this same soldier may endanger his fellow soldiers, or get himself killed for no reason. Recklessness can also mean ignoring the safety of others, such as "reckless driving". This type of recklessness is almost always looked down on.
Recklessness is a result of self-centered stubbornness, of not listening to reason, and not considering the consequences of one’s behavior to other people.
Courage, on the other hand, is a measured response in the face of danger. It does not put others in harm’s way for no reason. The one showing courage risks his or her own well-being first, which may inspire others to do the same in the cause of doing what is right. For example, in leading the American civil rights movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. put his own life on the line many times, inspiring countless others to do the same. The same is true of Mohandas K. Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and many others who stood up courageously for freedom.
In the story above, Brendan, too, inspired his schoolmates by his courageous action to stand up against the school bullies. They liked him for what he did. They probably had wanted to stand up to the bullies for a long time themselves!
Questions for Reflection
1. What is courage?
2. What is cowardice?
3. What is recklessness?
4. Are there kids in your school who pick on others? How do you feel about it?
5. Is it realistic to think that an average kid could stand up for a friend like Brendan did, or is he a special case?
6. What do you think stops people from standing up against something they know is wrong?
7. Have you ever stood up for someone who was being picked on or treated unfairly? If so, what did you learn from that experience?
8. It is said that evil will triumph as long as good people do nothing. Do you agree?
9. Does it sometimes take courage just to be yourself? What does that mean?
Exercise: “Profiles in Courage”
Find five acts of courage by people in the news or by people in your school or community. What do they have in common? What is different about them? What difference did their actions make? What can you learn from these examples?
Reflection Exercise: “Courage and Me”
Think of a time in your life when you showed courage. What was difficult about it? What did it accomplish? How did people respond before you did something? How were they afterwards?